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Gender Roles
Humans, through history, in many different societies and cultures, have had thoroughly established gender roles. Parahuman have also developed their own views of sexes and what roles they are expected to take in their society. Pre-colonization Parahuman had vastly different thoughts on the roles that gender play in society, and their views were a lot more flexible than modern Parahuman views. After the Human colonization of Eresgov, Parahuman gender roles, for the most part, were starting to comform to more Human ideals. History and Old Gender Roles Since the beginning, balance has been promiment aspect of Parahuman lives and religion. Balance affected everything from daily lives, actions, ideals, and many others. This includes gender roles. Parahuman considered both sexes equals ( Those born intersex were considered as well, and were catergorized into a third gender. However, some Parahuman groups would pressure them into choosing to identify as either male or female. ) They felt that the sexes needed each other, and balanced each other out. For example, to achieve balance within the context of gender, one would have to treat a male as one would a female and vice versa. The right of men to have multiple mates and to 'claim' mates was established in these times, so women were also given this right. Parahuman relationships (Relationships meaning 'mates') do not contain a 'dominant' or 'submissive' partner. Relationships were like a working partnership and each half of the partnership did equal amounts of work. This work would be anything from jobs, to hunting, to caring for offspring, and so on. However, strength both mentally and physically was a very important trait to carry. While this is a value that has stuck with the Parahuman culture as a whole, it was more important in pre-colonization Parahuman. The desire to produce strong, healthy babies with little difference in gene diversity was prominent in these times. Procreation was important, and so was passing on these 'strong' genes to future family lines. One's sex did not matter so much in the grand scheme of things. However, if one was considered weak in mind, body, or spirit, one's mate had the given right to punish in any way they saw fit. Weakness was considered the worst trait to possess, more so because they felt it led to weak babies. In these times, and even today for some Parahuman, they felt if they punished their partners enough, they would make them tougher was result. Strong partners would work and reward each other through their labors, and when one partner faltered and weakened, the other one was allowed to 'pick them up' in any way they saw fit. This way of life would last up until contact with humans, where all this would change. Contact with Humans When humans made contact with Parahuman, they discovered a culture completely different than their own in a number of ways. This includes gender roles. Before the World Wars and Civil Rights movements, many Human women around the world were left with very little rights. While it varies from society to society, common themes were that women were seen as property or second class citizens. The way Humans saw women, and the Parahumans saw women was completely different. Humans colonizers who observed Parahuman thought that their society would benefit with the males in rule and the females pushed into submission. While many Parahuman simply didn't care what the Humans thought of their traditions, others were more willing to comform to human culture (or dissatisfied with their places in Parahuman society ), and demanded change. Parahuman may share similar values and aspects to Humans. They have a 'human nature', so to speak, and some even had a desire to be superior. While some knew that balance with nature was very important in achieving enlightenment (and protested comforming to Human ideals due to their destructive behaviours and beliefs in Human superiority), a part of the Parahuman population were willing to accept these new beliefs. Some sincerely believed and accepted these values, but some were acting out of fear from the threat of potential war. Racism was present in pre-colonization Eresgov, though not as rampant. The belief of blood purity was strong, thoguh the balance aspect caused many to put their beliefs aside and work together as a group. After colonization, most became very violent against other species, particularly hybrids. Instead of working together, the sexes became most distant and began to take on more Human beliefs. Men were to be strong and bring home food. Women would stay home and care for the young. The rates of working Parahuman women dropped dramatically. It was at this point, a clear split between those who accepted Human ideals and those who rejected them was taking place. Some were outraged by this treatment of women, as they felt it went against the idea of balance. Others, by backward logic said that the idea of balance was still in effect. While it was a lower role, women still had a role. It was lower, and not equal, but it was still a role. Thus, balance was still present. Due to the issues about gender, and many other things, anger began to grow on both sides. Rivalries within tribes took place, and while the humans had not intended to this to happen, they saw an opportunity to gain land and so sided with the Parahuman who shared their beliefs. This would lead to a war that was primarily between Parahuman who clutched on to their dying culture and the Humans (Who were also joined by the Parahuman who comformed). After the War Once the war was over, and the Humans arose victorious and seized control of Eresgov, a new culture was begining to form within Parahuman society. During these times, women's rights were more restricted than ever before. During this time, society tried to convince women that they were in their rightful place and put those down who tried to revolt. Later on Parahuman resentment of the new ideals that were introduced by Humans grew, and many Parahuman began to voice their desire for change. Both men and women were dissatisfied with their place in modern society. Men did not have as many rights as they had before, and women were left with little rights. Post-war Parahuman had these rights: Men *Are considered the dominant/superior gender in society as of today, though the gap between men and women isn't as wide as it use to be. *Can have as many mates as they want. *Are the only ones allowed to claim a mate. *Back in the times where humans mostly ruled (they still do, but aren't as involved), men could not be accused of weakness. However this idea has reemerged. *If a man is weak, his partner may beat him. *As to who is the dominant/submissive partner in the relationship mostly is up those in the relationship, they must at least in public appear to be the dominant figure. *Though for the most part, like humans, are considered to be the ones who go out and make money for the family, this role isn't as strict as it use to be at the beginning of human ruling in Eresgov. It has eased up a bit, with men being able to once again go back to doing domestic activities. *Can be mated to another male. This is a more modern idea as back in ancient times, homosexuality was considered to be imbalanced. The balanced relationship was between a male and a female, and anything else was considered wrong. However as the idea that women are inferior rose, male homosexuality was considered to be better than dating a woman. Though even that view is changing so much as conservative and human ideals mix once again. *Can be a bachelor as long as they please. Females Changes in the rights of females were a lot more dynamic. Pre-colonization Parahuman women had the same rights as men, so many were left feeling as if they had little rights at all. This includes: *Not being able to claim mates. *Cannot belong to more than one man. *Cannot be mated to a woman. *Must be mated at some point in time. *While strength is still a desired quality in women, as it results in healthy babies, independence is not. *As mentioned above, as women begin to gain their rights back, women are once again allowed to be the one who supports the family and are no longer required to stay at home. Women can lead careers of their own. *Those who are against women rights claim to have 'human' ideals. This is not true, as shown through the rights of women in modern times. Intersex : Intersex Parahuman are simply kept at the same level as women are. Their place in Parahuman society changes very little before and after the war. Trans* Views on trans* Parahuman, and everything in between has not changed. Even back in anicent times, trans* people were considered to be confused. These ideas have not changed very much through time and the only two genders really recognized today are male and female. In Parahuman society, Trans* are: *considered to more or less not exist and have little to no rights. *identified by their reproductive organs, rather than what gender they identify with. *often harassed and are forced into relationships they don't want to in. Treatment of lesbians is the same, though homosexual males are often free from this abuse. This social unrest lead to many groups aching for some sort of change. This lead to the Parahuman Rights Movement. Diversity of Gender Roles in Different Species As a whole, the majority of Parahuman society has taken on post-war views on gender. However, there are certain species who are either made up of hermaphrodites or have females at the top of their hierarchy. In those cases, there are certain changes to the social structure. This does not particularly affect the majority view, however, since similar species are kept concentrated in certain areas or districts, it would be very rare for something like a meeting between two species with grossly different views to meet (e.g. a meeting between a bird and hyena Parahuman is very rare). Because of this, such views rarely clash with each other due to the seperation of the Parahuman species.